The College of Staten Island men’s volleyball season ended tonight on a down note, as the Dolphins fell to the No. 2 seeded Hunter College Hawks as part of CUNYAC Quarterfinal play in Manhattan. The final scores were 25-15, 25-13, and 25-15. The No. 7 seeded Dolphins finalized their season at 6-23 overall and 5-11 within the CUNYAC, while the Hawks, who will move to the semifinal round on Friday, moved to 20-12, 15-1, respectively.
CSI hung tough in the opener, at one point coming to within 10-9 midway through, but Hunter came alive to the tune of a 7-1 run to put some distance between the two sides, guided by a pair of Steven Tarquinio kills. The Dolphins forced a couple of attack errors to close to within 18-14, but the Hawks ended game one on another 7-1 spurt to put the game away, 25-15.
Hunter rode the momentum into the second set, exploding to a 12-4 advantage, powered by a pair of Ben Crusinberry kills. A Song Shin Low ace helped CSI close to 14-8, but the steady Hawks continued to dominate and force multiple CSI errors to take a 25-13 game two win.
In the final set, Hunter got off to a quick 4-0 lead and never looked back. A Brian Sheydvasser kill made it 12-7, but Hunter then went on a 7-2 run to put great distance between the two sides, leading to the 25-15 win.
Tarquino led all with 10 kills and three aces for Hunter, while Colin Horn picked up 9 digs. CSI was paced by Justin Edwardsen’s seven kills and Ronald Tisbe’s eight digs.
This was CSI’s inaugural season of men’s volleyball. They graduate two seniors at year’s end in Sheydvasser and Philip Szumanski, but hope to return a majority of their roster in time for an advanced showing in future years.
